Bigeye tuna specimens. (Photo: Stock File)
MARSHALL ISLANDS
Wednesday, August 20, 2014, 23:40 (GMT + 9)
Newly released stock assessment that shows bigeye tuna is being overfished underlines why the
Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) must take decisive action at its December annual meeting to reduce further reductions in bigeye mortality.
“PNA said that measures adopted last year by the WCPFC to protect bigeye
were inadequate, and the results of the detailed stock assessment
support this conclusion,” said Dr. Transform Aqorau, CEO of the
Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA),
a bloc of eight nations that control waters where over 50 per cent of
the world’s supply of skipjack tuna is caught. “Last year’s annual
meeting did not do enough to stop overfishing of bigeye tuna and we had
always known that it would not be enough.”
Scientists based at the
Secretariat of the Pacific Community
(SPC) delivered a comprehensive stock assessment for bigeye, yellowfin,
skipjack and albacore tuna during the WCPFC’s annual Scientific
Committee meeting held earlier this month in Majuro. These reports show
that stocks of bigeye have dropped below the WCPFC “limit reference
point” of 20 per cent to just 16 per cent of the original biomass now
present. For the first time, scientists stated clearly that bigeye is
being overfished.
Yellowfin tuna stocks were pegged by scientists to be below 40 per cent
of their original unfished population, while skipjack stocks were the
healthiest at slightly over 50 per cent. Albacore is also a concern,
with scientists reporting that “there is a notable risk of recent
fishing effort levels reducing the adult biomass of south Pacific
albacore below the Limit Reference Point (of 20 per cent) within the
coming years.”
Aqorau cautions that conservation measures need to be stepped up by the WCPFC for all tuna species.
Aqorau said the WCPFC members, which include all the major fishing
nations as well as Pacific island countries, have known for several
years that bigeye was in danger of being overfished.
“Now the scientific evidence is on the table,” Aqorau. The eight-member
PNA, he said, will be working with other countries to gain consensus on
measures needed to significantly reduce bigeye catches that will be
taken up by the WCPFC at its annual meeting in Auckland, New Zealand
later this year.
“It is clear that fishing of bigeye tuna needs to be cut by about 40 per cent to return to sustainable levels,” Aqorau said.
But there is heavy pressure on western Pacific tuna stocks from
record-setting catches over the past several years. A record 2.65
million tons of tuna was hauled from the western Pacific in 2012 valued
at USD 7 billion, and last year’s catch was only marginally smaller.
“PNA has been a leader in enforcing conservation measures to ensure the
tuna fishery remains sustainable in the long-term,” said Aqorau. “Since
2009, PNA has enforced moratoriums on the use of fish aggregation
devices (FADs), closed two high seas pockets to fishing as a condition
of in-zone licenses, and required 100 per cent observer coverage of all
purse seiners and in-port transshipment of tuna by purse seiners.” These
have all been essential elements for successful in-zone management of
tuna resources.
"But these in-zone measures must be complemented with similarly clear
requirements for fishing on the high seas, with a particular focus on
reducing catches by longline fishing boats that target bigeye and
yellowfin tunas for global sashimi markets," Aqorau said.
“FAD closures in PNA waters are protecting juvenile bigeye, but we have
yet to see compatible measures by high seas longline fleets targeting
mature bigeye,” Aqorau pointed out.
“Currently, PNA is shouldering the burden for bigeye conservation,
but PNA waters are mainly a skipjack fishery,” he stressed. Tuna
congregate under FADs, which are essentially platforms used to attract
fish. Many FADs are outfitted with sophisticated sonar that tells
fishing vessels the size of tuna schools under the FAD. Bigeye catches
drop dramatically during the PNA FAD ban from July through October.
PNA currently bans use of FADs for tuna fishing four months of the year,
but is prepared to increase this to six. “But we want to see the
commitment from distant water fishing nations to address bigeye catch on
the high seas and some consideration for PNA for losses PNA domestic
vessels that fish only in-zone will sustain if the FAD ban is expanded,”
Aqorau stressed.
Not only do distant water fishing nations need to take action to reduce
catches on the high seas, they need to begin providing operational catch
data required by their membership in the WCPFC. Aqorau praised the
United States for complying with this requirement by changing its
domestic legislation, and said four Asian nations that have yet to
comply must do so.
“PNA is providing the Commission with all catch data from fishing
within our waters. The Asian fishing nations need to do the same for
their catches on the high seas. The lack of data leaves gaps in the
stock assessments and undermines the sustainability of the fishery for
everyone because we are forced to make decisions based on incomplete
information,” he concluded.
Related articles:
-Data gaps affect pacific tuna assessment
- Greenpeace demands urgent recovery plan for bigeye tuna
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